Refrigerator-car.



J. J. ARMSTRONG.

RBIGERATOR CAR.

APPLlcAnoN FILED o cT. 23. 1913` Paten Aug. M, 19W.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

1.1. ARMSTRONG. REFRIGERATOR CAR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 23. 1913. 1,237,14. I Patented Aug..14, 1917. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

II v I l. J'. ARMSTRONG. REFRIGERATOR CAR.

APPLlcATloN man 001.23. 19u.

Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

` 3 SHEEITsv-SME'E'T 3.

UNITED STATES-PATENT or JoHN .IAMEs ARMSTRONG, 0E HoNoLULU, TERRITORY oE HAWAII, AssIGNoR oF oNE- 'EIGHT'H To ERED I.. wALDRoN, LIMITED, oF HoNoLULU, TERRITORY 0E HAWAII,

A coRPoRATIoN 0E THE TERRITORY or HAWAII. v

REERIcERAToR-CAR.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. '14, 1917.-

Application led October 23, 1913. Serial No. 796,828. l

description of the invention, such as willv enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates torefrigerator cars used for railroad transportation of'perish? able oods land food stuffs.

Re gerator cars are built of wood, with double walls having an air space, and various insulating materials, such as felt, etc. The thickness of these walls has to be limited in order not toreduce the freight carrying capacity of the car unduly. A n ice box is generally located at one or bothl ends of the car, in which it is necessary to keep a supply of ice, either with or without' salt depending upon the temperature desired? within .the car. That all portions of the f interior of the car may be kept at the same .temperature it isl customary to allow a current of air to pass over this ice and then be distributed to various parts of the car to cool the contents and also to overcome the losses by radiation through the walls of the car, the motion of the' car usuall inducing this-current of air. It 'can readily be seen that this method is very destructive to the ice, and that it necessitates the frequent reicin of the car at various points on a lon ha thereby entailing both expense an delays during transit.

The object of the present invention is to produce a refrigerator car in which temperature variations will be reduced to a minimum and the contents can be maintained at practically any required tem erature, irrespective of the climatic conditions existing on its exterior, and at the same time reduce the expense of the cooling ice and eliminate much of the trouble, annoyance is alwaysmaintained. v'llhis space betweenl the inner and the outer'casings may preferably be divided into 'several compartments, so that in case of an accident to any one compartment thevacuum may still be maintained in the remaining compartments. If preferred, there may also be one or more casings between the inner and the outer casings, that is casings located intermediate thereto, thus forming a plurality of spaces in the walls, ceiling and oor which spaces preferably may also be divid partments, and in which a vacuumis obed into com-A tained and maintained, thereby further inl suring the refrigerating properties of the car. The casings are suitably stayed by stays or separators to resist the atmospheric pressure, preferably by stays or separators of heat insulating or any suitablenon-conducting material. A vacuum maybe obtained and maintained in these compartments or spaces ,by means of a vacuum pump operated in any suitable manner, for example, the vacuum pump may be driven by an axle of the car, it only being necessary, after a vacuum has once been obtained, to exhaust any air admitted tothe compartments or spaces through leakage. Access to the interior of the inner casing for the admission and the removal of the perishable goods, may be had by doors so arranged that when locked in ,place they -form air tight joints with the sides of thecar.

An absolute vacuum is a perfect nonconductor of heat, and if a. car could be.

made surrounded by a perfect vacuum it would only be necessary to cool the contents of the car to the proper degree and the contents would remain at the same temperature for an indenite period of time. In practice, however, this ideal condition can only be closely approximated. The change 1n the temperature vof the contents of a car, such as is contemplated by this invention, can be made so smallthat little or no ice would be required to keep the contents durlng the average haul, thereby reducin the time of transit and the expense offl re-Icing the car. Such a car would not only be a refri erator car in the summer time, but woulcgl be practically frost proof in the winter time. When the car is not to be opened during transit, and particularly on long hauls, the interior of thev car, that is its inner casing, may also be exhausted of air, thereby further insulating its contents.

I am aware that the insulating property of a vvacuum has been utilized in household refrigerators, in the liquefying of gases, and

recently inwhat are termed thermos bottles.

This invention, however, contemplates an showing a detail of a corner of the car and a preferred form of insulating stay.` Fig. 4 is a detail showing a section through a joint between two compartments with a heat insulating partition. Fig. 5 is a detail showying a section on the line B-B of Fig. 1 on a larger scale of a joint between a door and the hollow wall of thecar, said door vbeing partly opened. Fig. 6 is a detail showing a modication of Fig. 5 when the wall of the car comprises a plurality of vacuum spaces between caSingS.

Referring to the drawings, the body of the ear is of metal construction having any outer casing'l and an inner casizng 2 with a space- 3 between said casings in which a vacuum is always maintained. rlhe casings 1 and 2 are separated by separators or stays 4, which are in compression due to the atmospheric pressure. These separators or stays 4 are preferably of heat insulating or con-conducting material, such as vulcanized ber for example, to prevent as much as possible the transmission of heat from one casing to another. One method of constructing these stays 4 is illustrated in Fig. 3, in which the ends of the ber rod 4 are threaded and screwedinto metal plugs 4n and 4b, which plugs are threaded and screwed into the casings -1 and 2 respectively. The outer end of the plug 4a is riveted and the head of the plug 4b is hexagonal or providedwith ats to take a wrench. The Vtop of the outer casingl, which forms the roof of the car, is, preferably curved and suitably braced by plates 5, Figs. 1 and 2. rlhe top of the inner casing 2, which forms the ceiling of the car, \is also .similarly braced by the Tbars 6. v

The doors 7 are provided for access to the interior of theinner casing 2, and when locked inpplace they form air tight joints with the walls of the car. One method of accomplishing this is shown in Fig. 5, in which the angle iron frames 8 and 9 are riveted to the casings 1 and 2 respectively, and plates 10 are secured to said frames by nasa-,ree

the metal bands 11, 12 and the rivets 13, thus forming an opening havingvslightly tapered walls, as shown. rllhese doors 7 which are hinged to the walls of the car by the hlnges 14, are similarly provided with angle iron frames 15 and 16 riveted to their outer and their inner casings 1 and 2 respectively, and

are closed and locked in place by the catchesl 22. These p1ates'10 and 17 are preferably of heat non-conducting material, such as vulcanized ber.

When the space 3 vbetween the casings 1 and 2 is divided into compartments, the pairtitions are also preferably of heat insulating or non-conducting material. One method is to divide the car into sections, these secmethod of making the joint between these sections is illustrated in Fig. 4, in which angles 23 are riveted to the ends of each section of the casings 1 and 2 respectively, and these tions being bolted or riveted together. One I angles 23 are riveted together with a metal ller 24 between them, and a plate'25 of heat insulating material interposed between these llers 24 forms at the same timeboth a separator and the partition between the compartments. y

' The air exhaust pump 26 is secured under the floor of the car, and is driven in any suitable manner, as by a silent chain or belt 27 from the axle 28 of the car. This pump 26 is connected vby a'pipe 29 to the space 3, orto each of the compartmentsinto which this space may be divided."'"l.`he pipe 29 may be provided with valves 30, so that its connection to any compartment may be cut out in case of an accident causing excessive leakage from the atmosphere into said compartment.

When intermediate casings are desired between lthe outer casing 1 andthe inner casing 2, the joint' between the doors 7 and the walls of the car may be made as illustrated in Fig. 6. rihe intermediate outer casing 31 and the intermediate inner casing 32 are stayed by the stays 4 to the outer casing 1 and to the inner casing 2 respectively, with spaces 3 between them, yin which spaces a vacuum is maintained. A separator 33 is riveted between the outer casings 1 and 31 and between the inner casings 2 and 32 around the opening for the doors 7, against f which separators 33 the packmg rings 21 engage and seal the joints when the doors 7 are closed, as shown.

'll interior of the car is preferably pro- -vided with 'a oor 34, which may be of woo llt is obvious that the interior of the car or of the inner casing 2 may also be divacuum between said casings, substantially vided into compartments in order that difas and for the purpose described. 13 ferent temperatures may be maintained in In testimony whereof I aiix my aeach of said compartments, if so desired. ture, in presence of two witnesses. 5 I claim: JOHN JAMES ARMSTRONG.

In a refrigerator car, an inner casing, an Witnesses: outer casing, and means operated by the W. E. JAMm,

movement of the car for maintaining a Rom'. J. 'n'. 

